|
Many
people are pleasantly surprised when they have their first Caribbean
Dish. The tastes are brilliant. Favourite meals such as Curry Goat,
Rice & Peas, Plantain, Fried Chicken, Jerk Chicken, Oxtail Stew,
Dumplings, Roti and Patties are welcome varieties to any dining
table. Caribbean cooks add special touches to accompaniments such as
Coleslaw, Potato Salad, or Green Salad. You'll be dreaming about the
meal for a long time to come.
Caribbean Foods which are widely
available in supermarkets tend to be a few fruit and vegetables, such
as mangoes, coconut, melons, pinapples, papaya, bananas, oranges,
ginger and sweet potatoes. Various condiments such as hot pepper
sauces and seasonings are also frequently seen on the supermarket
shelves. There are manufacturers producing ready prepared meals, but
retailers have been slow to make these available to consumers.
The variety of Drinks available
is well worth an afternoon tasting session. Both the soft drinks and
the alcoholic offerings are delightful. Soursop punch - oh please,
pineapple punch, peanut punch, tropical fruit punch - oh pl-eeze. The
dazzling array of beautiful juices is something to write home about.
The variety of alcoholic drinks, will have many dancing for joy. Some
specialities are still only available in the Caribbean, but we are
working on that.
The health benefit of Caribbean
herbs is well documented. Islanders had cures for everthing growing
on their land. Non-processed organic foods enabled older generations
to live strong into old age. The vitality offered by fresh fruit and
vegetables, and herbal (bush) teas cannot be underestimated.
Talk about extra with the
seasonings - that's Caribbean Cuisine. The thought of just putting
chicken to cook without any seasoning, or just using salt and pepper
would send us stir crazy. After washing the meat many times over, and
using vinegar or lemon to wash further, then a long list of
seasonings is added. After allowing time to marinate, preferably
overnight, the meat is cooked to perfection. Don't make the mistake
of thinking rice and peas, is just rice and peas. It's the additional
spices and seasonings which take you out of this world. (and its not
green peas either)
The long list of seasonings used
in Caribbean Cuisine can include any of the following (and more).
Allspice (pimento), annatto seeds, bay leaves, black pepper, chives,
chilies, cilantro, cinnamon bark, coconut, cooking butter, curry
powder, garlic, ginger, lemon, mace, nutmeg, onion, oregano, scotch
bonnet peppers, sugar, thyme, coconut, lime, orange, skellion,
tamarind, tomato paste, vanilla, white pepper.
Caribbean Cuisine has a wide
range of flavours and tastes. Each island in the West Indies has its
own national dishes, and methods for cooking. Some dishes are hot,
others not. Jerk seasoning is hot, but if used sparingly, you can
give the spicy flavour without the dish being too pepper. Most
Caribbeans do cook moderately, then add hot pepper sauce to the
table, so that adults can spice up the food even more. Some have been
known to take a bottle of hot pepper sauce with them when they are
going out to eat. Some even use it like children use tomato ketchup.
A few dishes are designed to be
eaten as accompaniments for they would be quite bland on their own.
Just as eating a plate of white rice on its own, give someone a plate
of sliced boiled yam, and they will wonder what the fuss is about.
Serve it with a well-seasoned fish or meat dish, then you have a meal.
It can be safely assumed that you
will like many Caribbean dishes but a few dishes will not tickle your
fancy. There is something for everybody. Who does not like fried
plantains, or a pattie, a crab salad, or Guinness punch? Why not
taste and see?
HISTORY
The first Caribbean civilizations
were established by Amer-Indians from what are present-day Venezuela
and the Guianas. These were the Carib and Arawak Indians. The
Arawaks, a gentle and placid people, were cruelly exploited by the
European newcomers and nearly exterminated within a few generations.
The Caribs, on the other hand, were more belligerent and seasoned
warriors. They took on the Spanish, French, and English and fought
longer than any other Indian tribe including the Apaches of the
American Southwest, before eventually being reduced to a small number
of scattered groups. Unfortunately, much of the original Amer-Indian
cuisine these people ate, with the exception of a few dishes prepared
with indigenous fruits and vegetables, has not survived to modern times.
Ironically, it was knowledge of
the local fruits and vegetables gained from the Indians that
sustained the early European settlers for the first several years.
Even though this first influence, at first glance, seems to have been
a primitive one, it had some lasting effects. Many of these Indians
were farmers of sorts and raised starchy roots like cassava from
which they made bread. They also cultivated sweet potatoes and
arrowroot, which produces a nutritive starch that is one of the
easiest for humans to digest.
There is also one cooking legacy
for which every backyard chef owes these early settlers a profound
salute. The word barbecue comes from a grate made of thin green
sticks, called a barbacoa, upon which the Arawaks grilled meat over
an open fire. On the barbacoa thin strips of meat were cooked slowly,
exposing them to the smoke from the fire below. Slow cooking allowed
the meat to be constantly enhanced with its own fat. The whole
process gave the meat a flavour that few are unfamiliar with today.
Unfortunately Britain is not very
well served with Caribbean or Afro/Caribbean restaurants but the ones
that are around are well worth visiting. Try The Mango Room in
Camden, Cottons in Chalk Farm, BB's Crabshack in West Ealing and the
Humming Bird in Finsbury Park.
top |
